Patent law is no longer a real law, presuming it ever was. Someone close to me invented something about 15 years ago that every single person here uses every day. Google tried to come up with an alternative product, but repeatedly failed, so they blatantly stole the patent. My friend sued. During discovery, emails from within Google were placed into evidence that state they are breaking the patent.
The courts ruled in favor of Google, to the shock of all patent attorneys. Patents are rigged, much like everything else.